Oprah Exposed for Wearing Crumpled Boots

Questioning what they might be hiding is part of a viral social media fake news conspiracy

Sagging boots fuel a conspiracy theory. (Screenshot by Snopes)

One of the most insidious characteristics of fake news and misinformation is the use of leading questions to infer a plausible but nonexistent fantasy. Sometimes, the purveyor attempts to rationalize an evidentiary basis for asking a question to falsely imply that a nefarious something is being hidden by some shadow agent.

That is the method used by a viral social media campaign to legitimize the risk of infertility by the COVID-19 vaccines. John Oliver’s thorough examination of Tucker Carlson’s persistent use of questioning facts as a way to peddle falsehoods is also a fine case study of how someone can amplify malicious narratives without stating them outright.

Other times, an extraordinary deduction from a prejudicial observation can add fuel to a prior false argument. Hence the recent viral misinformation thread claiming that Oprah Winfrey wore an ankle monitor, a device used by law enforcement to monitor the movement of people under house arrest while interviewing British royals Prince Harry and Meghan, the Duke and Duchess of Sussex.

There is a lot to unpack in this one. According to the long-time fact-checking site Snopes, the ankle monitor…